Voting Rights Mean Little To Most Americans

Jim Spencer

October 15, 2002|By JIM SPENCER Daily Press

Serbia nullified the results of its presidential election Sunday because too few people voted. Only 45.5 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. Serbian law requires that half of all eligible voters participate for an election to be legitimate.

Legally compelling people to vote may not be the most democratic of concepts, but it sure recognizes something lost on too many Americans.

We do all right in presidential elections. Otherwise, if the 50 percent rule applied in most states and localities, almost no one would qualify to hold office. Neither would many representatives in the U.S. Congress.

To understand the level of this crisis in representative democracy, consider last May's city council elections in Newport News and Hampton. Turnout in Hampton to pick three council members was 18 percent. Of course, the three winners -- Randy Gilliland, Joe Spencer and Turner Spencer -- didn't attract every vote. When you do the math, you end up with a pathetic exercise in minority rule. Gilliland, who led the ticket, was elected with the support of 11 percent of the city's registered voters. The Spencers each got 8 percent.

May's most ludicrous example of electoral indifference came in Newport News' northernmost district. There, only 9 1/2 percent of the eligible voters showed up. More of them cast their votes for Sharon Scott than for incumbent councilman Terry Martin or candidate John Robbins. Still, when the count was complete, Scott won a term on the Newport News council in a decision made by just 4 percent of the voters she represents.

This isn't Scott's fault. Her experience differs from her fellow council members only by degree. No one with whom she serves attracted the support of a majority of Newport News' registered voters.

The list goes on and on.

Mamie Locke became mayor of Hampton in an election that drew only 28 percent of registered voters.

All of the area's state delegates chosen in the most recent election failed to meet the Serbians' oh-so-mediocre standard. Turnout in the races won by Melanie Rapp, Tom Gear, Mary Christian, Flora Crittenden and Glen Oder never reached 50 percent.

Selection by 25 percent to 30 percent of eligible voters never represents a mandate from "the people." Thing is, "the people" are just too lazy to vote. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that less than half of this country's voting-age population votes for members of Congress in nonpresidential election years. In 1998, barely six of every 10 voting-aged Americans were registered to vote, and only four in 10 actually cast a ballot in any political election. In Virginia, six in 10 registered, but only three in 10 actually voted.

Seems like the land of the free and the home of the brave would know more about the democratic exercise than some bit player in the former Soviet bloc. Sadly, the numbers don't add up. The Serbians at least recognize that government of the people can exist only where a majority of those affected vote.

The record shows that most Americans gave up on that principle decades ago. As a result, they have ceded most of their government to zealots and special interests.

And they have no one to blame but themselves.

Jim Spencer may be reached at 247-4731 or by e-mail at jlspencer@dailypress.com